December 2013 was the last time Cello + Laptop played live. That happened down Las Ramblas in Barcelona at Eufonic Urbà Festival. Since then an awkward silence expanded till today. In between a certain amount of live recordings, studio sessions and infinite mixes wait in line as orphans the endless hesitancy.

During this long period those files have become a burden, witnesses of the absence of bearing of a project apparently way to easy to re-write. Those files were unresolved issues, segments of an exhausting period of real time composition and production that ultimately lead to a crossroad with far too many options.

Awkwardness followed more awkwardness and many attempts of restarting the project happened. The effort was to big and the laziness of confronting the question: “what to do” won over the will of moving forward.

Finally, the answer was easy: lets do it: fast, clean and neat.

So after almost one year here we have a small grasp of what was hidden in the closet a thorough selection of four little gems we have kept for a long time. Those are the outcome of various recordings done in Valencia. All pieces are segments of longer live improvisations between cello and live electronics. The process of work, as usual, is a two-ways stream of cello lines and the re-appropriation of those same string lines, and the dance and dialogue that happens in real time.

Finally the four tracks come with a couple of videos “Waggle Dance” and “Sinia” done by Merisma. "Waggle Dance" is a free depiction of another creative process that hasn’t seen the light yet. This is the creation of live improvised compositions using only acoustic cello and microphones. The piece presents Sara playing live improvisations on an abandoned house, while Edu Comelles records the scene. Through the recording process Comelles re-mixes Galan’s improvisation. Microphones become instruments and panning becomes interpretation and the acoustics of the cello are processed for future re-configuration.

On “Sinia” we can see a sonic intervention that directly relates with Edu Comelles latest album and its track “Dry Land” in which the sound of an abandoned watermill is used to improvise with cello on location. Both works were recorded in two consecutive days in Tarragona (Southern Catalonia) in Summer 2014.

That was it, now they are back to work. This album, apart from closing a period enables a new one. This summer, Cello + Laptop will be recording a new full-length album.

Reviews:The last time we heard anything concrete from Cello + Laptop, the year was 2013 (but only just – it was December). Since their live performance at Barcelona’s Eufonic Urbà Festival, studio sessions, recordings and mixes have taken up much of their time, but in that period there was very little of what you may call a definitive return. As the months went on, the prospect of a new album became dimmer and ever more distant. Multiple attempts were made to restart the successful project, but a kind of malaise had gripped the musical process. Kick-starting the project back into gear seemed like an insurmountable task.One year later, the four tracks of Segments are thankfully here, and it’s available as a free download at the link below. Recorded in Valencia, Segments is made out of longer, live improvisations. Sara Galán & Edu Comelles blend the incredibly thick, soulful tone of the cello with a subtle electronic sprinkling of loops and drones, and it’s still just as beautiful. The cello’s rich sound sits like a Queen on a golden throne, while the light electronics coolly move around it. Experimental in nature, the cello nonetheless dominates the sound. Sparse lines sit majestically beside the cello’s drone, circling it and progressing the music in a way that’s always unhurried. Segments is the start of a road that will come to define, separate and split the duo’s past from their future. The music is always intelligently played, and that’s one of the reasons why the music resounds with such power.Segments begins with “Welcome”. It’s grandiose and reassuringly friendly. And it should sound that way, because Segments is a reunion with old friends. The chambers and the halls are once again surrounded by the music of kings. The olive wreaths of “The Garden” wrap around the cello. Vines that snake around the music’s house slowly become notes that echo, diminish and fall away, and then a stuttering electronic rhythm suddenly appears. The time to say “Farewell” comes around too quickly, but it’s a pleasure just to be able to listen to their music once again, and it bodes well for the future. It’s a darker, slower piece that drags its feet; the music has returned. Thankfully, a new album is set to be recorded this summer. Segments is just the right length to get reacquainted with their music. Cello + Laptop have shed their skin; their music has, too. They have been missed.James Catchpole. A Closer Listen.